| Mark Walsh | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Nickname | Special Brew |
| Born | 2 February 1965 Watford, England |
| Home town | Abbots Langley England |
| Darts information | |
| Darts | 24g Target Darts Mark Walsh Range |
| Laterality | right-handed |
| Walk-on music | Special Brew by Bad Manners |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| PDC | 2002 - present |
| Current world ranking | 12 |
| PDC premier events - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Round 3 2011 |
| World Matchplay | Round 2 (5) 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
| World Grand Prix | Round 2 (4) 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010 |
| Ch'ship League | Winners group, Semi-finals 2008 |
| Desert Classic | Round 2 (2) 2005, 2008 |
| European Ch'ship | Quarter Finals (3) 2008, 2009, 2010 |
| UK Open | Runner Up 2005 |
| US Open/WSoD | Last 64 2007 |
| Players Ch'ship Finals | Round 2 2010 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| UK Open Regional (Wales) UK Open Regional (EM) Gleneagle Irish Masters Coventry Players Ch'ship Barnsley players ch'ship Germany players ch'ship |
2005 2009 2007 2009 2009 2009 |
| Other achievements | |
| Nine dart finish, Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship 2009 | |
Mark Walsh (born 2 February 1965 in Watford) is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments.
He reached his first major televised final in 2005, when he was beaten by England's Phil Taylor in the UK Open in Bolton.
Contents |
Walsh made his televised debut at the 2002 World Matchplay but suffered a 10-0 whitewash at the hands of John Part.
His World Championship debut came in 2004, but he lost 0-3 to Erik Clarys in his first match. He went out to Wayne Mardle 2-4 in 2005. He won his first match at the World Championship at his third attempt in 2006. He was seeded 12th for the event, and beat Warren Parry before losing 0-4 to Dennis Smith in the next round.
He had slipped to 16th in the world rankings for the 2007 World Championship, when he was surprisingly beaten by 19 year-old Dutch player Rico Vonck, thus continuing his poor run at the tournament. He started the year ranked 15th in the world, but had fallen to 32 by November, which put him in danger of failing to qualify for the 2008 World Championship. However, he reached the semi-final of the Ireland Open Classic in September, and won the non-ranked Gleneagle Irish Masters in early November, thus hinting at an upturn in form. He also reached the semi-finals of the PDC German Darts Championship.
In the 2008 PDC World Darts Championship, Walsh defeated Adrian Gray in the first round, setting up a second-round match with Taylor. Walsh led Taylor 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Taylor won six consecutive legs to beat him 4-3. Despite losing, Walsh stated that from suffering dartitis to pushing the greatest player in the world to the final set at the World Championship was a great victory in its own right.
Walsh continued his good form, reaching three quarter finals including the Open Holland Masters and then reached the last 32 stage of the US Open and the UK Open. He followed up with a semi final showing in the PDPA Players Championship Las Vegas and then qualified for the 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic the next day. He beat Bill Davis in the first round before losing to James Wade. He then reached the second round of the 2008 World Matchplay, defeating Colin Lloyd in the opening match of the tournament but lost to Kevin McDine. He reached the second round of the World Grand Prix, beating Steve Beaton in the first round before losing to Terry Jenkins. Walsh missed out on qualifying for the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts but bounced back to reach the semi finals of the inaugural Championship League Darts, winning group eight and then placing second in the winners group, eventually losing to Mervyn King. He then reached the quarter finals of the 2008 European Darts Championship and reached the final of the PDPA Players Championship Holland 2, losing to Wade.
Walsh defeated Jamie Caven 3-2 in the first round of the 2009 PDC World Championship, narrowly missing out on a nine dart finish on the way. In the second round he lost 4-2 to King. On 17 January, Walsh hit a nine dart finish in the Eddie Cox Memorial Players Championship in Gibraltar against Caven to win the deciding leg of their first round match. Having rolled over for four Players Championships, Walsh won £1,600 for the nine-darter.[1]
Walsh won his first PDC title in two years, when he won the Coventry Players Championship on 28 March 2009 beating Taylor 6-4 in the final.[2] He added another title with his second career UK Open Regional in Derby, by winning the East Midlands region 6-5 over Raymond van Barneveld.[3]
Walsh was 12th seed for the 2010 PDC World Championship, however he only made the first round after losing 3-2 to former BDO World Champion Mark Webster.
Walsh qualified for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts as the highest ranked player from the PDC Order of Merit not already invited. He progressed through Group A with victories over Tony O'Shea and Michael van Gerwen but finished second after losing to Scott Waites. He then defeated Group B winner Dean Winstanley 10-9 and former World Champion Ted Hankey 16-14 before losing out 11-16 to Gary Anderson.
At the 2012 World Championship he came from a set down to defeat Australian, Warren French, 3-1 in the first round. Walsh played Kevin Painter in the Last 32 and came back from 1-3 to level the match at 3-3. He couldn't keep his momentum going, however, as he lost the deciding set by 3 legs to 0 to exit the tournament 3-4.[4]
He has won six non-televised PDC titles: the Welsh Regional final of the UK Open in September 2005, the Gleneagle Irish Masters in November 2007,[5] the Coventry Players Championship and the UK Open East Midlands Regional plus two more Players Championships in Barnsley beating Jamie Caven and in Germany beating Andy Hamilton 6-5.
|
|
|||||